Angourie, immediately south of Yamba, is known across Australia as a classic point surf break, and the volcanic basalt reef beneath and around that point is a genuine dive site in its own right — just one that is workable on only a handful of days a year, when the swell that makes the surf break famous drops away almost entirely. Local sources are blunt about this being an experienced diver's site: rugged trenches and canyons carved into the basalt bedrock create swim-throughs, overhangs and small caverns that are excellent underwater terrain but unforgiving in any surge, and the entry itself, over sharp rock timed between wave sets, is not for beginners. When conditions allow, the reward is one of the most interesting basalt reef systems on this part of the coast: blue groper patrol the open ground, estuary cod and striped snapper work the gutters, bream, tarwhine, drummer, sweep and bullseyes school through the canyons, and reef sharks — wobbegongs and Port Jackson sharks — tuck into the overhangs.

Turtles and eagle rays are seen seasonally, and the site has a long-standing reputation among local spearfishers as one of the more productive rock platforms on the Far North Coast, a reputation that carries over directly to scuba divers willing to put in the local knowledge. The basalt itself, rather than the more typical sedimentary or granite rock found at many NSW dive sites, gives Angourie a distinctive dark, angular topography of trenches and canyons rather than rounded boulders, and this geology is part of what makes the site's swim-throughs and overhangs so structurally interesting when visibility allows them to be appreciated. Visibility, at a typical 6 to 10 m, is modest compared with the offshore reefs further out, and drops further after rain or any meaningful swell.

For visiting divers, Angourie is best treated as a bonus dive to fit in around a longer Yamba/Iluka trip on the rare day the forecast lines up, rather than a site to plan a visit specifically around.

Drive to Angourie village, south of Yamba, and park near Angourie Back Beach or the Blue Pool; a short walk over rock leads to the entry point at the southern corner of the beach. Entry is a rock-hop timed between wave sets — booties and gloves recommended for grip and protection on the sharp basalt — and is only sensible at mid to high tide in small surf. A boat trip from Yamba can also reach the reef offshore of the point.

Angourie Point is one of Australia's most famous right-hand surf breaks, which means genuine diving conditions here are rare — only on very small swell and ideally at mid to high tide, avoiding the surf that the point is famous for. A longshore current runs along the point on most tides. Visibility drops after rain or any decent swell, and this is explicitly described by local sources as not a beginner site.

Enter at the southern beach corner between wave sets on a small-swell day, work into the basalt trenches and canyons at 3-8 m looking for blue groper and wobbegongs, extend to the deeper swim-throughs at 10-14 m only if visibility and surge allow, and exit at the same point on an incoming set.

No dedicated charter; local spearfishers and experienced shore divers use this site regularly on calm days, and Yamba Dive can advise on or run a boat trip to the offshore extension of the reef.